House of Many Ways (Howl's Moving Castle, #3) by Diana Wynne Jones

"I never talk nonsense." the creature said. "All is mine. You are mine." Wings whirring, it began to stalk towards her on most unnatural-looking wiry blobs of feet. "I shall come to claim my own very soon now. I claim you first." It took a whirring stride towards Charmain. Its arms came out. So did a pronged sting on the lower part of its face.
Charmain screamed, dodged and fell of the edge, scattering flowers as she fell.

[Click here to see my review of book 1: Howl's Moving Castle and book 2: Castle in the Air]

When Great Uncle William falls ill, Charmain Baker is tasked with the responsibility of taking care of his home while he's away with the elves who are trying to heal him. Charmain jumps at the chance to get out from under her mother's thumb and go to a place where she can read and eat to her heart's content.

Upon arriving at Great Uncle William's home, she soon learns that caring for the home of the Wizard of High Norland isn't quite so easy a task as she had anticipated. After all, the house is filled to the brim with magic (which she is unaccustomed to entirely) and filled with secret passageways and hidden rooms that could take her days to navigate her way through. Soon, Charmain finds herself dealing with a magical dog named Waif, little blue men who seem determined to make her life more difficult, and a boy who only seems to be able to irritate her and keep her from settling down with a good book.

But when Charmain is summoned to the castle to help the King sort out his library, she learns that the king and his daughter are searching for the elf-gift, a weapon that could help save High Norland from ruin, and she might just be essential to locating it. She isn't the only one who has come to help, though, and soon Charmain finds herself under the speculation of a Mrs. Pendragon and her fire demon, Calcifer.

I really loved this conclusion to the Howl's Moving Castle trilogy. Charmain is a wonderfully stubborn and irritable protagonist who isn't exactly the best at being kind, though she tries to get better at it. She stands her ground, even when she's scared, and she'll sate her curiosity if it's the last thing she does. She is profoundly human and I love that about her.

I mentioned before that I wasn't a big fan of the second book in this trilogy because I felt it opened slowly and dragged on for a bit. This was absolutely not the case with House of Many Ways. I felt like I was pulled in from the get-go and loved everything about the story. It was a satisfying read and one I highly recommend.

Rating: ★★★★★

"Who are you?" the demon said.
Charmain's heart thumped a little, although Waif seemed perfectly calm. If I hadn't just met a lubbock, Charmain thought, I'd be quite frightened of this Calcifer. "I... er... I'm only the temporary help in the library," she said.
"Then we'll need to talk to you later," Calcifer crackled. "You reek of magic, did you know? You and your dog."